If I Can't Love Her
by Margot-Eve
Summary: AU, based on Beauty & the Beast. Roxanne is a young reporter. While looking for material, she meets Megamind, an alien with a secret. She has only three months to discover that secret and maybe something more than she could ask for.
1. Chapter 1

To jest angielska wersja (i trochę ulepszona, dzięki mojej Becie ;]) crossoveru "A miało być tak pięknie". (jesteś z polski, skomentuj oryginał!)

I do not own any character present here. They all belong to Dreamworks. The original concept of Beauty and the Beast belongs to Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, who first wrote this story down and to Disney who made it into a beautiful animated movie ;]

I'm just having fun in their sandbox ;]

EDIT: This story has been altered, just the time line guys. Sorry for the long hiatus.

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><p>"Oh, I do not believe this!" Roxanne Ritchi rose to her feet and rubbed over a bruise on her leg, which she'd earned during a crazy ride down the sewer manhole.<p>

It must have been the worst day of her life. For almost a year she'd been an intern at KMCP 8, and had recently been given the chance of her life to appear on the air. Unfortunately, tracking down the "material" she needed resulted in driving a little too far into the rougher part of the city, which forced her to escape from a bunch of thugs, during which she stumbled and fell down a manhole leading to the sewers. And afterwards she landed… Exactly where _had_ she landed?

It was the sewers, yes, but there was no water. The reporter pulled out her cell phone to light the way and started to walk. Soon the tunnel grew brighter, and Roxanne decided that she must be somewhere near the subway route because the walls and the floor trembled from time to time. Hoping to get out, the young woman began to move quicker. But there was still no exit in sight.

After something that could have be an hour of walking, Roxanne began to hear loud music. Not explicitly, but she could recognize an electric guitar and percussion. _Someone listening to rock music in their basement?_ Could she have come across a group of young runaways who had started a secret base in the unused subway tunnels?

Finally, Roxanne saw the end of the tunnel and a ladder leading upwards. Without thinking, she climbed up and opened the wooden hatch. She found herself in the abandoned theatre…

What she saw exceeded her expectations. There were futuristic looking machines placed here and there, which looked more like the ones she'd seen in science fiction films as opposed to modern technology. _Who built these things? Does it all even work?_ Roxanne was so stunned she didn't notice that someone had suddenly turned off the music.

It was the sound of someone else's voice which brought her back to reality.

"Minion, is that you?"

Roxanne panicked when saw a shadow approaching. Quickly she looked around in search of a hiding place and dived into the shadows. Then she saw him and had to bit her lips, trying not to scream. _Who ...? What __is__ that thing? An alien?_ He had a human body structure, but what distinguished him was his blue skin tone, not to mention his giant skull. And he was bald.

Roxanne didn't know what to do. Could this be an actual visitor from another planet, intending to take over the Earth? _Too much 'Alien' and 'Predator'_; _I can't judge him, thinking he's evil and has ill intentions, _she thought, remembering her father's words. "_Do not judge a book by its cover, and a person on appearance; you judge them based on their actions._" She took few deep breaths. _Okay, Miss nosy ... Time for the meeting with the Third Kind._

"I'm sorry ... " Carefully she slipped out from her hiding place and stood face to face with a blue alien – if he _was_ an alien. The alien screamed in horror and jumped back a few steps.

"Minion! Brainbots! We have an intruder!"

Roxanne raised her hands in a gesture of vulnerability.

"Listen, I'm here by accident. Some thugs were chasing me and I fell into a manhole, and the tunnel I fell into led me here, so if you were so nice as to just show me the way out ..."

"I do not think that's an option ..." the alien answered her.

"What?" With slight horror she watched as he slowly reached to his hip and took out a strange-looking gun. The alien fired. The world flashed white and then it went dark...

Later, through the hatch in the floor came a strange robot-like gorilla. Instead of the head it had an bowl with a fish inside, who was humming. The newcomer pulled up a shopping bag and closed the hatch behind him.

"Sir! I'm back!" shouted the fish. He was answered by silence. "Sir?"

The fish looked around carefully and headed for the main part of the theater. Indeed. In one of the chairs the fish saw the blue alien sat down, mindlessly playing with an opalescent blue cube. The fish quickly placed his purchases in the kitchen before approaching.

"Sir? Did something happen?" he asked.

The alien sighed.

"Minion, how many times do I have to remind you to close the hatch behind yourself?" Even the anger in his voice was a little ... thoughtful.

"Oh, that ... ha-ha." If the fish could blush with embarrassment Minion would be doing so. Instead he shifted from one foot to the another. "I keep forgetting where it is..." he added to justify himself.

"This, my fishy friend, is the result of your forgetfulness." The blue man lifted the cube.

"Oops ...? Should I fetch the Forget-Me Spray?"

"I don't know ...I'm not sure." The hand fell heavily on the armrest.

"What? " Minion hoped that he'd misheard.

"This is Roxanne Ritchi..."

"Oops." He hadn't misheard him that time, damn ...

"Minion, how much time do we have left?"

"Around three months... Sir, what's your point?"

The alien stared at the blue cube, and for a moment, he didn't answer.

"Minion, do you believe that our lives, to some degree, may be led by some sort of destiny?" he suddenly said. "Not completely; just a little. For example, when we meet someone, or something unexpected happens, and we get to choose from several options; the choice might decide the rest of our lives." He looked at Minion, waiting for his answer.

"Sir, I'm not sure if I understand..." The fish was deeply troubled.

"I think I would like to try again, Minion. One last time. What do we have to lose?"

Minion was silent for a while, processing what he'd just heard.

"I understand, therefore, I'll prepare a Green Dressing Room."

To her own surprise Roxanne opened her eyes. She blinked a few times; luckily the room was dark and her eyes became accustomed to it quickly. She tried to sit up.

"Whoa ..." She grabbed her head and hid it between her knees, trying to calm the sudden dizziness. It was only when she was sure she wouldn't throw up her breakfast she dared to look around. It was certainly _not_ her room. Next to the green chaise sofa – on which she sat – stood a lamp which gave a very fragile glow. Roxanne found the switch and slowly increased the light.

The room reminded her of an old Hollywood styled Dressing Room. The interior was green with dark wood accents. The walls, drapes, carpet and upholstery were in various shades of green. To the right of the chaise longue was a dressing screen made of dark wood and green material, embroidered with gold thread and oriental patterns. In one corner stood a dressing table made of dark wood with a huge mirror. And then, from the ceiling, hung a retro styled chandelier. The girl must admit; the room was very beautiful.

Only then did Roxanne realize that, standing by the door was a robotic gorilla with a fish tank instead of the head. The fish smiled at her politely.

"Hello," it said.

_It spoke!_

For a moment Roxanne just gaped at him. "Ugh, this stinks," she then muttered, closing her eyes and flopping back down. "I must have bumped my head _pretty_ hard on the way down."

"Are you okay, Miss?" the fish asked.

The young woman opened her eyes, and again, she saw a talking fish. Part of her mind insisted she was dreaming. But then she remembered her encounter with the blue alien… _This feels too real to be a dream._

"N-no. Not really. Are you really a fish?"

"Oh, yes. My name's Minion. The one you met earlier is my friend and boss, Megamind," he informed her.

"Megamind?"

"Yeah. He may seem a little cocky at first but he's a good person, when you get to know him."

Roxanne came to the conclusion that this…space piranha was nice. "So…err… could you show me the way out? I need to get home."

"I doubt that it would be possible, miss."

The woman didn't like the tone in which Minion spoke. "Sorry?"

"Your return home. I fear that, for now, it will be impossible for you."

"Pardon?" Her eyes grew wide and she blinked a few times.

"Sir forbid your return home until further notice," Minion explained.

It finally sank in. Then she screamed with frustration and anger and ran out the room, unstopped by Minion. The loud rock music was her lodestar. She quickly found Megamind, tinkering with a machine.

"YOU!" The alien looked up and smiled when he saw her, but his face fell once he noticed the mood she was in. "This is kidnapping! This is illegal! People got to jail for this! I demand you let me go! You have no right-!"

With each word which fell from her lips, his eyes turned cold with rage. "Maybe I don't have the right..." he said very slowly, his tone ice cold.

He stood up and walked over to her. It was at that moment when Roxanne noticed her mistake. She swallowed nervously when she saw his angry eyes, and took a few steps back.

"But it was you, Miss, who charged in to _my _house, _without _invitation, so you are here on _my _terms and_ I_ will decide when you walk away from here, understood?"

She nodded her head, her expression betraying just how scared she was. Had he suddenly grown a few inches?

"Minion! Take her to her new room and don't let her leave it until I allow it," he ordered the fish.

"Yes, sir."

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><p>Why the lair is a theatre? Because in the first concepts of Megamind, his lair <em>was<em> placed in a theatre. You could see that in the Art of Megamind book. I just thought how beautiful it looked like and how it fitted the story ;]

Review please?


	2. Chapter 2

Minion walked Roxanne back to her 'room' and after returning to Megamind, he placed his hands on his hips.

"Sir, that was very rude of you!" the fish huffed.

"I know," Megamind muttered, putting his tools in order. He'd lost any interest in the machine now.

"She's just found herself in a situation out of a book and you treat her like a medieval tyrant! Locking the poor thing away!" Minion continued his speech.

"In a very comfortable room…" the blue alien added mostly to himself, since Minion simply ignored him.

"She's shocked and most likely hungry! How long has she been here, anyway?"

"Few hours…"

"Her family must be worried! It's the 21st century, sir! They'll be looking for her! And just how are you going to keep her here?"

Megamind groaned, gripping the base of his nose. Minion was such a pill sometimes…

"I know…" he sighed. "Fine, invite her to dinner. I'll think what to do next."

"Sir, I must remind you that this was _your_ idea. You should think of ways to make her actually _like_ you, rather than make her hate you…"

"Minion! I know! I said fine. Go invite her to dinner." Megamind was desperate to finish this conversation. Best friend or not, this he really wanted to end this.

"No. You go and invite her. I'll go prepare the dinner." The fish left the room, still irritated. "And you need to apologize to her!" he called back over his shoulder.

The blue man hit his forehead with his palm and dragged it down his face. Truth to be told, he felt bad about that outburst. Roxanne had every right to be angry. And Minion was right. It was the 21st century… He needed to think of something, before people would start to miss the reporter.

He knocked on the door.

"Roxanne?"

"Go. Away." Roxanne couldn't believe this. He'd just treated her like his… his... prisoner, and now he dared to come knocking on her door?

Megamind grimaced. That nosey girl! Somehow his regret turned into irritation. He came here with all good intentions and she dared to answer with this tone? _Okay, stay cool. Control yourself; don't make it any worse…_

"I thought, that… you might be hungry," he said slowly, clenching his jaw. "So I thought you might like to have dinner…with me."

"No thank you!" she shouted through the door. "I'm not hungry!"

But then her stomach grumbled. She blushed, thankful for the fact he was on the other side of the door and couldn't hear.

"Fine!" he hissed. "Then stay there, for all I care."

He stormed down the corridor towards his bedroom, huffing and puffing and muttering something to himself about stubborn, nosey women and how life was unfair. He didn't even noticed Minion when he passed.

Seeing his master like that, Minion shook his fishy body in a displeased manner. Sighing, he went back to the kitchen. Hopefully Miss Ritchi would change her mind until the meal was ready…

Megamind slammed the door behind him and threw himself on the bed, laying still for a second, then abruptly changed position from lying on his stomach to lying on his back.

Who was he kidding? Roxanne was gorgeous; she had beautiful brown hair, and that beauty spot, and her freckles were simply adorable. And those wonderful curves on her body… Saying she was beautiful was an understatement, in his opinion. While he was…he was…alien to her. There was no way he could make her fall in love with him…

It was…sad, to say the least. And ironic. People say that one can die because of love, while he was going to die because he couldn't find it… His kind were super geniuses, but they were also super emotional, far more than humans. One needed another to calm their longing hearts; each needed to join in union of soul, mind and body with someone else. Someone who they could love and cherish.

His parents left him a message. Once he turned twenty the clock will start ticking until his twenty-fifth birthday, when his heart will no longer be able to bear the loneliness and burst. Or he could save himself and find someone who would love him back.

When he found out about this, he thought: _What the heck! Who cares?_ ...But a few months passed, and the pain in his chest told him otherwise. He observed humans joined in pairs, holding hands, being happy and that voice in his head said: _I want that too_.

He knew he could not enter the society being blue and bald, and his charismatic and fantastic personality was not enough to woo a girl no matter what they said. So he had to build his disguise generator first. Once that was completed he designed his 'human look', putting a lot of effort into those holograms. He tried to make the 'mask' as close to his actual body structure and face shape.

The dates went on, but most of the girls he met were so…dull. Talking about fashion, celebrities; nothing that caught his eye for more than a few seconds. Some were more interesting; he dated three or four of them for a few weeks, but soon they broke up for various reasons. None of them knew his real form.

But then…then he met Jillian. His sweet Jillian. She was a social worker, helping the poor and the homeless. She was funny, cheerful, understanding, and compassionate. He thought that she was _it._ That he had finally found _her_.

Megamind wanted to reveal himself to her on their first anniversary. A year after they met. He was so sure she was the one. He prepared (with Minion's help) a romantic dinner. Everything went so well… He asked her if she loved him. And she said 'yes'.

"Would you love me even if I was…someone else?" he asked her.

"What are you trying to say, silly?" Jillian chuckled. "That you're James Bond?"

He chuckled with her. But then went silent with nervousness. "No, I'm not." Then he told her how much he loved her, that he would do anything for her, that she meant everything to him. She also became a little bit nervous. What was he trying to say? He asked her not to scream, he closed the curtains and…he deactivated the watch. She inhaled sharply; her eyes grew wide, her hand wandered to her mouth pressing on them so she wouldn't scream.

He explained everything, constantly assuring her how much he loved her. She remained silent, averting her eyes down as she sat on the couch. She was breathing quickly, her hands shaking.

"Get out," she said slowly.

"Jill…" he almost begged her. Then she snapped. She shouted at him about how much he'd tricked her, how he dared to make her fall in love with him, when he was…a _thing!_ Even though she didn't move an inch from the sofa, he felt as if she'd slapped him.

"You said everyone deserved to be happy…" he said slowly.

"I meant _humans_," she hissed. "With other humans. Not beings like…like _you!"_

He left, ordering Minion to wipe all of Jillian's memories considering this night. The next day he called her, telling her that he was breaking up with her. After that he never saw her again.

And then there was Roxanne… He met her during a party one of Jillian's friends had organized, while they were still a couple. The two of them had decided to meet directly at the party and she was late. The alien waited for her, and somehow started a discussion with the younger sister of one of the hosts – Roxanne. She reminded him a bit of Jill, but unlike her, Roxanne was stubborn and open in stating and defending her opinion. That night she definitely caught his attention, though not his heart. Not yet.

He met her twice after his 'break up' with Jillian. Both encounters had somehow lifted his mood; the brunette always seemed so sparkly to him; the whole world was a mystery to her, but it was a mystery she wanted to discover and show others. It was that third meeting when he realized he'd fallen for her. A year after Jill had broken his heart, and Roxanne had managed to heal it. But he was scared. Too scared to let anyone hurt him like Jill did, convinced that the second time would most likely kill him.

So he removed himself from the society, cut ties with humans he once knew and secluded himself completely into the abandoned theatre. Hoping that death would be much kinder than life. But he still invented; it was the only thing that kept him alive. He filled the whole building with machines and sold some from time to time. As the time went he thought; what to do with the rest of them? What would happen to them once he was dead? He knew he should dismantle most of them…but there was that stubborn, irrational part of him which insisted that he would live.

And now, a year after his seclusion, there was Roxanne… The curious, spit-fire Roxanne. Was the world giving him a second chance?

Sighing deeply, he got up and left the bedroom. What was the point in brooding for the whole day? Besides…he was getting hungry.

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><p>Here it is the chapter two. Megamind is so angsty here... He needs a hug.<p>

So review! Each review is like a hug for our favourite blue alien!


	3. Chapter 3

For his dinner, Megamind just grabbed what he could and put it on a plate, muttering to Minion that he needed to work. Obviously he wasn't in the mood to see Roxanne, if she showed up.

After an hour of waiting for their 'guest', Minion decided that he should check on her. Maybe she was lost and couldn't find the kitchen?

"Miss Ritchi, are you in there?" He knocked on the door.

"Yes," came her quiet answer.

"Would you like something to eat?"

"Could I eat here?"

"Sir's working. Besides, I think you need a quick tour around this place if you're going to stay with us a bit longer," the fish said, a bit concerned. This going to be harder than he thought if neither Megamind nor Miss Ritchi were going to actually talk to each other. But it was just the beginning; maybe they'll work it out somehow… hopefully…

The doors clicked and opened, revealing Roxanne with a slightly puffed up face.

"Miss Ritchi, were you crying?"

"No. I have an allergy to dust," she informed him sniffing.

Minion remained skeptical. "I cleaned this room myself shortly after you arrived," he said in a not so amused tone.

"Oh, then it has to be an allergy to blue, egoistical jerks…" she assumed. "So what about that dinner?" she quickly changed the subject.

Minion sighed again. "Follow me."

He led her through corridors of the theatre. Roxanne wondered why this building was actually abandoned in the first place as she admired the interiors. The aliens had kept everything in top condition.

From time to time they passed by a few Brainbots, with which the reporter was very fascinated by. The strange hovering machines looked alive, very similar to dogs with the way she saw them act.

"They're responsible for cleaning duties and they help sir with his work; lifting heavy objects and simply assisting," Minion informed her when she asked him about them.

Finally they reached the dining room, which once served the theatre technicians crew. In the corner stood a piano and in the middle of the room was a long table made of dark wood with craved legs, most likely replacing the old table, since it was a bit too extravagant for technicians. The chairs matched the table with floral ornamentations. The rest of the interior of the room must have been replaced by Megamind and Minion too. From the ceiling hung a beautiful crystal chandelier and on the walls beautiful paintings had been placed.

"Wow…" Roxanne turned her head in all possible angles, trying to take in the view.

"Sir has a thing for beautiful objects." Minion smiled, seeing her awe. "He made the table and chairs."

"You're kidding me." The girl looked at the fish, a bit shocked, and slid her hand over the table top.

Minion shook his fish body in a 'no' manner and offered her a seat. Then he left her for a moment and came back with a few Brainbots, carrying the dishes.

"Oh, Minion. I'm hungry, but I doubt I'll eat all of this!" Roxanne laughed.

Minion's fins fanned, most likely embarrassed. "I know. I just thought that you could taste them. It's always just me and sir, so…I thought that maybe you could give me your opinion?"

"Well, in that case… but only a taste. I can't end up gaining pounds… The camera is already adding them up." She still smiled and reached for the first dish.

Her stomach grumbled once the smell reached her, and she eagerly put the first spoonful in her mouth.

"Oooh, Minion. This is…this is…this is delicious!"

The fish smiled, deeply pleased. By the time the dinner was over, Roxanne had a problem moving, she was so full.

"Have you ever thought on starting a restaurant?" she asked him, letting out a long, content sigh. "The fact that the Chef Minion," She said 'Chef Minion' with fake French accent, "remains a mystery would only add to the interest."

"Well, no. I'm devoted to serve only sir…" the fish said slowly with a small smile, cleaning the table. "But thank you for saying that."

The Brainbots left with the dirty dishes and Minion suggested a tour of the theatre.

The whole building was much bigger than Roxanne suspected. The main stage hall, two smaller stage halls and many rooms were used by Megamind as workplaces and storages. Even then, lots of rooms remained unused. Those in use included a TV room, library, game room, a swimming pool in the basement and a gym.

"So he works out? He looked more like a nerd type to me," Roxanne noticed as they entered the gym.

"Oh, he does. Sir says that working out helps him clear his mind." Minion pointed to the blackboard, filled with complicated equations and drawings of machines. "It motivates his creativity."

They left the gym. While Minion was walking her back to her room, Roxanne heard loud rock music, which she immediately associated with Megamind.

"What's down there?" She pointed to the corridor on her left.

"Sir's private rooms," Minion said briefly, not giving her many details, unlike he did while visiting other places. It simply implied that this place was off limits. Unfortunately Roxanne, being the nosey reporter she was, made a note to herself that she had to investigate them later.

Roxanne wondered what time it was. Megamind had confiscated her stuff, much to her annoyance. _He could have at least left me my watch, the jerk_.

Opening the door to her room, she peeked out, checking if any of the aliens were near.

"Minion…? Hello?" she said quietly. Deciding it was safe she crept out. First things first; she had to confirm where the duo was.

She found Minion with some of the Brainbots, cleaning some machines in the main stage hall. And there were strange mechanical noises coming from the direction of one of the smaller stage halls. They were all occupied. Smirking, Roxanne made for the forbidden corridor. Surprisingly the doors were open. Megamind was probably used to the fact that there was only him and Minion in the building, so he simply forgot to lock them. But really, there was nothing interesting. One room, which was probably made out from few rooms connected by removing the walls, was filled with blue prints and blackboards with equations. His bedroom was similar to hers, though it was arranged with white and silver colours with blue accents, and he had actual bed there while she only had her sofa.

She stayed there for a while, hoping to find something, but what exactly she was unsure of. Maybe some documents with a doomsday plan? But she found none. Huffing with irritation she leaned against a wall, but screamed when the wall suddenly disappeared and she fell.

"Ow…" she moaned. Once she was on her feet, she saw a dark corridor on her left. She looked back, checking that Megamind wouldn't suddenly appear, before she began walking.

Soon she found herself in a control room. On the opposite wall were monitors showing various locations from inside and outside the theatre. The whole room was basked in a ghostly blue light. Roxanne stepped in, inspecting the room. On the control desk she saw her bag, cellphone and camera. Not wasting any time she grabbed her stuff and threw the bag over her arm. Once she'd done that she returned to inspecting her surroundings. To her right was a digital clock, counting down from 90 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes and 16 seconds.

She came closer to the clock, curious as to why it was counting down. What would happen once the clock ran out of time?

Then she noticed an object which resembled a pacifier glowing with a blue light, laying to her left on the display. The label below it said it was a B.I.N.K.E.Y. The next thing she spotted were photographs standing on a metal table. There were only a few of them.

One was showing a group of children. She recognized immediately two boys present on it. The one surrounded by friends was the local rich playboy, Wayne Scott. Even as a child he had to be, in Roxanne's opinion, a spoilt brat and jerk. The other boy standing alone, clutching a glass ball with a fish inside, was blue. No guessing it was Megamind. He looked scared and awkward, but what hit her most was the orange jumpsuit he was wearing. An outfit wore only by prison inmates. Why would a child wear such a thing?

The next photo she saw portrayed two people – two _blue_ people. One was a blue woman, lying in bed while holding a bundle in her arms. She had the expression of accomplishment, love and worry painted on her face. Next to her sat a blue man, encircling the woman with his arm and reaching to the baby with his finger; he looked very proud, but also worried and tired. The scene was filled with love and something very sad.

"What are you doing here?" Megamind's angry voice shocked her, and the first photo of the children fell to the floor when she knocked it.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…" She tried to apologize to him, but he cut her out.

His eyes turned to slits when he noticed the shattered fragments of the frame. Roxanne could feel the cold rage building inside of him.

"Leave," he hissed.

"I'm sorry-" she tried weakly.

"Out!" he roared. "Out! I don't want to see you ever again!" His arm swung, pushing her away.

She didn't wait for any more encouragement and began to run. She remembered that during the 'tour' she saw the exit and immediately ran at the. She flew out the door, running as fast as she could.

Suddenly she ran into someone.

"Oh, hello there, lass," the red haired man spoke with a Scottish accent.

Roxanne swallowed and took few steps back. Just great; once again she'd run into a group of thugs, only this time there were five of them.

"Excuse me. I need to get home." She tried to get past them but they stepped in her way.

"Then let us walk you there. You know, these streets ain't safe for such a charming lady like you." The one she ran into must have been a leader, she decided.

"I… I can manage on my own." The reporter carefully sank her hand into her bag, trying to find the pepper spray she usually carried.

"Well, then lass, I'm afraid that was no proposition." He snapped his fingers and two of his men were behind her. She yelped when one of them grabbed her arm, but she had finally found her pepper spray and sprayed him in the eyes. The thug screamed and started to rub his eyes. The other one immediately reacted by tackling her down to the ground. She screamed for help.

"I'm afraid no one can hear you, lass," said the boss looking down on her.

Roxanne huffed and kneed the thug holding her down. The man folded in two, letting her go. But when she tried to get up, her face met the leader's boot.

"Ye're so jumpy, lass. Can't you hold still fer a minute?" the Scottish man said, and another one of his thugs approached her. She curled into a ball.

"No, she can't." Suddenly there was a flash of blue light and the third thug turned into a blue cube.

Roxanne couldn't believe it. It was Megamind! What was he doing here?

The remaining thug and the leader's jaws dropped. They'd heard the rumors about some strange things happening around here, but this… Suddenly the thug, which Roxanne had sprayed, jumped and hit Megamind. This woke the duo. Roxanne watched as the two men pull knives out of their pockets and moved toward the alien.

The blue man threw his attacker away, but lost his gun; he faced the other two who were armed with knives.

"Listen, lad, fer your own safety, go back to where ya came from," the redhead said in friendly manner, playing with his knife.

"Fine, but I'm taking the lady over there with me." Megamind took the fighting stance.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. The lass stays with us."

"If you say so."

Whatever happened next, Roxanne was unsure. The two jumped on her savior; there were screams, and one of the attackers flew back and hit the wall. The red haired leader cursed and also ended up getting thrown away.

The brunette noticed with the corner of her eye that the man she kneed before was slowly getting back on his legs. She quickly spotted a rod and hit him over the head, knocking him out. Once she turned back to Megamind he stood alone, three blue cubes at his feet.

He looked at her worried. "You okay?"

She nodded, still in shock. The blue man smiled weakly.

"That's good," he said, and then Roxanne noticed a long gash at his side. "You're wounded!" she shouted and ran to him.

"It's just a scratch." The moment she was near him he wobbled a bit and the brunette caught him.

"Save the 'though guy' speech! We need to get you to a hospital!" she panicked. Then she remembered something from first aid classes. She needed something to press to the wound; his spandex suit was useless. After a short moment of hesitation she took her own shirt off and ripped it in two, making a makeshift bandage.

"No… No hospital," he muttered, the blood loss clearly getting to him. "Minion…"

"Fine, then let's get you to Minion," Roxanne said softly, and being very careful she lead him back to the theatre.

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><p>Next chapter! With some action. ;]<p>

Review! Please


	4. Chapter 4

_Hours after the incident…_

"Knock, knock," Roxanne said playfully as she entered Megamind's bedroom.

"You're still here?" he asked her, pouting.

"You're so cranky, you know?" She set down a set of clean bandages and antiseptics.

"Where's Minion?"

"He's making breakfast. Now hold still, I'll change your bandages." She reached to him but he dodged, covering himself with the blanket.

"Why? Minion can changed them later." He tried to shoo her.

"Don't make me tie you to the bed!" She leapt at him, but he escaped to the other end of the bed.

"You're not going to… ouch!" He wanted to evade her again, but the wound in his side decided to play up. "Owwww…."

"Ha!" Triumphantly, Roxanne helped him return to the right side of his bed and began to change the dressing on his arm. "You know, if you weren't fidgeting so much it wouldn't hurt."

"If you weren't running from me, this wouldn't have happened." He grimaced a little when she cleared the wound.

She huffed.

"If you hadn't chased me away I wouldn't have run from you."

"You… you shouldn't have been in that room in the first place!" the blue man pointed out victoriously.

"And you should learn to be a little nicer!" She stuck her tongue at him, then sighed. "Besides… Thank you. For saving my life…"

He looked at her, a bit surprised, and then hung his head a bit embarrassed, looking away from her. "Don't mention it…"

Roxanne finished redressing his wounds, packed up and rose to her feet. "Well, I'm done here. Minion said he'll bring you your breakfast later." She turned away to leave, but Megamind stopped her with a question.

"You're going to leave now?" He sounded disappointed rather than happy about that fact.

She wanted to joke about it, but suddenly she felt really nervous. _Stockholm syndrome, Stockholm syndrome…_ the brunette repeated in her mind like a mantra.

"Yes, I… I have to." She sighed. "I'm really grateful, but I have my own life. I can't just disappear into thin air without leaving a message. And I have work… Well, at least I _think_ I still have a job," she added that with a bit of concern. After all, she'd been absent for nearly two days… "But I can visit you… if it's not a problem, that is." She shifted uncomfortably in front of the doors.

"No, not at all!" His face lit up with hope. He originally wanted to call all of her friends and her boss and say that she'd left for China to visit a cousin, but if she wanted to visit him on her own… Tiny bells of happiness rung in his head. Though, it was a shame that because of him, she might lose her job. Then a thought struck him. "You said you were looking for a scoop, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well, if you got your scoop, you would keep the job?"

"Yes."

Megamind smiled widely. "I need a commercial to sell some of my inventions. And you need something to make your boss happy. We can cut ourselves a deal."

"A commercial? Sorry, I don't want to be rude, but… you're blue." She can't believe her ears. Was he serious?

He flashed her another grin. "I know." He tried to leave the bed but winced again in pain. She made a move to help him, but he waved a hand and gestured to his desk. "There's a watch on the desk; give it to me."

She obeyed his wish and soon, the device was placed onto his wrist. Megamind wondered which disguise he should show her… Definitely not the one she would recognize… He sighed and twisted the dial. Roxanne saw a bright light flash, and instead of Megamind, on the bed sat a man in his sixties, wearing a suit.

"That's… the Warden from the Metro City Prison!" she gasped.

The fake Warden smiled before the image flickered back to Megamind. "I can scan anyone's appearance into this thing. But I can also program something original. Give me few hours."

"What about your wounds?" She was still concerned about his wellbeing. He'd risked his life for her, after all.

"Minion can bring me a portable 3-D projection planner. You could ask him to get it for me."

She nodded and finally left the room. Her head was slightly confused from information overload. But then again… Megamind _was_ a blue alien. After meeting him, nothing should have been strange for her.

Wayne Scott, Metro City's playboy, had it easy in life. His rich father, overprotective mother, nannies and maids delivered to him everything he wanted, pushing him into the impression that the world will always bend to his will and every need. And what he wanted now was Roxanne Ritchi.

His parents expected him, at his age of 26, to finally find a woman who would stay longer than a couple of weeks. But the problem was… he wasn't interested. He wanted to have fun, not _settle down!_ Wayne shuddered at the very thought of it. But the good life he had was on the line, and if he had to have any woman, he deserved the best. And Roxanne _was_ the best.

* * *

><p>So, here we are. Wayne, well he has no powers, so no Metro Man people! He's the real son of Lord and Lady Scott, so no alien business with him, there. (though a thoughts of radioactive broccoli taking his powers away passed my mind... I know, I know, I'm not funny, so I should stop the attempts...)<p>

So... review please? (and just maybe the next chapter will come out earlier xD)


	5. Chapter 5

The interview went smoothly. If she hadn't known that the middle aged man sitting in front of her was a hologram, she would've been fooled. But she was charmed anyway, just like her editor.

Frank was amazed by the story of a lone inventor living in the industrial district alone with just his assistant.

"You sure this guy is not some kind of a Batman, or something?" he asked her after the viewing. "The things he has there… it's like a science fiction movie. Is all that stuff real?"

"I'm sure. And yes, it's all real," she assured him, trying to calm herself. This could be her big break-through!

"Him… not a bad job, there. You had a lot of luck, finding this guy." The editor rubbed his chin, thinking.

_Please say yes. Please say yes! _Roxanne prayed in her mind.

"Ok, kiddo. I'll give you a chance. Nothing big for now! But if you continue working like this," He pointed to the monitor, "Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll give you time on the screen."

"Yes! Thank you!" she almost screamed, but then she realized her position. "I mean. Thank you. It means so much to me…"

"Yeah, yeah," Frank waved his hand, "I know, I'm great. Now go meet your new camera man. I think it's… what's his name… I think it was Hank or something… Terry will tell you. Now go."

Roxanne left the office and once the door closed, she did a small victory dance. She hadn't been this happy in such a long time!

_Oh, my God! YES! No more coffee delivery! No more copies distribution! YES! Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Roxanne Ritchi for KMCP8 News. A rising star in television! _

She floated on her happy cloud, feeling like she was already Oprah. Then she met her camera man. Hal Stewart.

The man was… tolerable in small dosage. She wasn't exactly sure how he got the job. He annoyed her after just two seconds of conversation.

"Wow! Excuse me. I dropped something! My jaw! I'm sure the heaven is missing an angel. I'm Hal." He offered his hand and Roxanne had to fight really hard not to flinch.

"Hi… I'm Roxanne Ritchi… I think we're going to work together…?" And he managed to squeeze two super cheesy pick-up lines there… oh, God.

"Yes! Isn't it great? We can be best buddies! Can I call you Roxie? Because that would be totally awesome! We'd be like a super team! Hal and Roxie: The first on the scene!"

He babbled for some time, not really paying attention to her, so long as she was responding: "yeah… aha… sure… not really… yeah…aha…"

Some conversation. And she already had a head ache…

"Hal?" she interrupted his stream of words.

"Yeah?" The red head man looked so excited, not even knowing what she was going to say. Probably he already imagined what she would ask. _But not today, Hal; not ever_.

"Listen, you're a nice guy, but we're co-workers. And I'd like to keep it that way, okay? Besides… I'm already seeing someone." She had to bite her tongue after that last sentence. _What the hell am I doing?_

"Oh…" Hal's face fell. Suddenly he lit up again. "But it's not like you're married, right? If anything happens… You know I'm available."

She nodded with a sour face. "That's… nice to know. But we're engaged." _Argh! Don't do this, girl! Anyway, why are you doing this? He doesn't need to know that! Don't be so polite for once! _Hal's eyes wandered to her obviously ring-less hand. "I lost it during an escape from some thugs."

"Oh. Well… then since we're working together, and we are going to be best buddies ever, you should invite him to lunch! The three of us! Or… do you have a sister?"

"No."

"Female cousin?"

"No."

"Then maybe some female friends?"

"Not really…."

"You could invite her too and then we could get something to eat together! You know, bonding time!"

Roxanne face-palmed herself. Just how had she managed to dig herself so deep? She was about to say something, but she was interrupted by another red head, this time a girl around her age.

"Hey! Hal! Stop harassing her!" the young woman hissed.

Hal stuck his tongue at her. "Be gone, witch! This is my new partner, Roxie! We'll be working together."

"Oh, yeah? This is my new BFF, so shoo, creature of darkness!"

Hal fled, much to Roxanne's relief.

"You okay there, girl?" her rescuer asked.

"Yes, thank you. And please, call me Roxanne."

The red head chuckled and gave her a wide, toothy grin.

"No problem. I'm Lena, from the financial section. Nice to meet you."

They shook hands.

"You had quite the effect on Hal," Roxanne noticed. "How did you…?"

"Oh, Hal is your regular creeper. He's harmless really, but _very_ annoying. He's been here for a while – and scared off every female worker in a matter of seconds," Lena explained.

"How come you're safe?"

"You truly _are_ a reporter, aren't you?" The red head shook her head "I told him to get lost before I charge him for harassment."

"It worked?" the brunette asked in disbelief.

"Like a charm. Also," Lena lowered her voice to a whisper. "I have a boyfriend," she giggled.

"How come you're here instead of in finance?"

"There was word in the department that Frank had promoted one of the interns to a regular job. And that she was a girl and Hal was assigned to her. Naturally I came to your rescue."

"The gossipers here are really fast…" Roxanne was impressed. Even in high school it wasn't _that_ fast. It was like… fifteen minutes?

"You bet. Now, I have to go. If you want to scare off Hal again call my department!"

Lena ran off, and Hal magically teleported himself to Roxanne, the moment the female red head was gone.

"Whew, good she's gone! So, what are we doing now?" He placed his arm on her shoulder.

Roxanne gave him one really unimpressed – and notably scary – look.

"Gotcha…" He removed his arm within seconds.

* * *

><p>I'm alive! Happy? Because I am. so make my day! bury me under tons of reviews! How do you like your Lefou btw.?<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

"Knock, Knock!"

Roxanne entered the old theatre through the familiar trap door. Megamind had given her a map with all the entrances to the secret corridor in the city. She was quite surprised just how many of them there were.

"Oh, it's you, Miss Ritchi!" Minion welcomed her with that all familiar friendly smile. "Sir is going to be delighted!"

"I'm going to be delighted about what exact…ly. Um… Hi?" Megamind joined them quickly and paused when he saw Roxanne again. "You came back…"

The young reporter smiled and brushed a strayed strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I guess so." Then she reached into her bag. "And I brought a peace offering!" She handed a box of doughnuts to Minion.

"Oh, Miss Ritchi! You didn't have to!"

"I had to, Minion. It's a thanks to you guys for that interview. I'm officially a full time worker for KMCP 8 News!" the girl was really excited.

"So the interview worked?" Megamind walked up to Minion and took one doughnut. "Mmm, my favorite."

"Yes! It's going to be aired tomorrow afternoon."

"Can't wait to see it," The blue alien said, smiling.

"So… Miss Ritchi… could you tell us about your day at work?"

"Hm? Oh, yes! If you want to hear it."

"_Ab-zooo-lutely_! Why wouldn't we want to?" Megamind offered to take the bag and the three of them walked into the dining room.

Megamind couldn't be more pleased to have Roxanne in his theatre. He listened to her story with interest, but when he heard about Hal… _Ugh, if I ever see that buffoon, I'll dehydrate him on the spot_. He was glad Roxanne met someone like Lena, but was a little bit jealous he couldn't be there.

"…Hal _is_ a nice guy, but he's such a creep at the same time… I think he _tries_ to be nice, but it just goes the wrong way."

"Too many _mucho_ movies," the blue man concluded.

"You meant 'macho', sir," Minion corrected him.

"That's what I said."

Roxanne chuckled. "That might be the case."

"So what's going to happen tomorrow?" Megamind asked.

"Well, I'm going to fill some charity spot. You know; a one minute review on some charity event for homeless run by Jillian Ackern. She's going to say a few words and I'm going to ask her just one question. You know, the usual boring stuff that no one really watches." Then she looked at the dynamic duo very carefully.

Megamind was having a panic cough attack while Minion just tried to look innocent and eat his doughnut.

"What?" she asked

"What's what?" the blue alien asked back.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing really, Miss Ritchi. There's nothing to worry about," Minion assured her, but she just gave them the raised eyebrow look.

"Does this have something to do with Jillian Ackern?" Their joint reaction was the answer. "So it does! What's this all about?"

"Err…" Megamind sent Minion a 'help!' look, but the fish wouldn't be any help.

"Oh, look at the time! I've got to go and… keep an eye on my ice-creams!"

Megamind sent him a look full of betrayal. Roxanne watched them and suddenly something pinged in her head.

"Oh, I get it," she announced, and the blue man nearly fell of his chair.

"You… You do?"

"Yes. You have a crush on her!" she exclaimed.

"I… have…?"

"Oh, come on. It's okay! Jill's a looker, but she has a very good heart. I'm sure she'd like you back… if you approached her in the correct way." She examined the alien from head to toe with her eyes.

Suddenly his face fell and voice became bitter. "Yeah, unlikely. Trust me, I _know_."

Roxanne gave him a strange look. "Know what?"

Frank closed the doors behind him and sat back in his chair.

"How can I help you, Mr. Scott?"

"Please, call me Wayne," the young man on the sofa said lightly, waving his hand. "I was just going to ask you how Miss Roxanne Ritchi is doing. I've heard she got a full time job?"

"Yes, that's correct. I must be honest with you, sir, I wasn't so sure about her since she got here on your letter of commendation, but she's a very devoted worker. I see a wonderful career ahead of her," the editor said slowly, but then added, "If you won't mind telling me, why are you so interested in this girl?"

"She's just someone very… special to me. And I would like you to keep it a secret that I recommended her here."

"Of course." Frank nodded with understanding.

"Very well, then." The young man stood up and the editor followed.

Both men shook hands and bid their goodbyes. Once the Young Scott was out of the hearing range, Frank grunted and pulled himself a bottle of whiskey.

"You stinky brat. I would have accepted her even without your stinky money." He emptied the glass with one gulp. "And you wouldn't deserve her in thousand years."

* * *

><p>Next chapter should appear somewhere during this week... I'm thinking... Friday? Maybe sooner. or later, but by the end of this week, the chapter should be here. ;]<p>

Review!


	7. Chapter 7

"She dumped you, because suddenly you turned out to not be _human?_" This was just over her head. "I can't believe it! I mean, okay… it wasn't very fair to keep it a secret from her for so long, but… that's just…"

"I know… believe me, I do." He was surprised by her reaction. He expected her to… okay, he didn't know what he expected to happen, but not this. Maybe it was a good thing he left out the 'bond' part from the story… it was just too soon, in his opinion.

Then she gave him a sideways glance with a little sparkle in her eyes.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Don't forget you lied to me… I expect a retribution." She smiled like a wolf who'd caught the sheep.

"And that would be?" he asked, this time rather panicked. What could she want?

"Your secret room. The photographs. The clock. I want to know more about you. How did you ended up in here, besides the fact you isolated yourself here after Jill dumped you?"

"Fine, I'll tell you what you want, expect for the clock. That's too personal."

"But you will tell me one day?" she inquired.

"Maybe."

They both stood up and went to the secret room. Roxanne looked around, noticing that the photo, which she dropped before, was now placed in a new frame. She picked it up carefully.

"Start with them. They're your parents, right?"

"Yes." He walked closer to her and took the photo. His fingers gently caressed the two in it. "This was taken on the day of my birth. My mother, Sa'shel, and father, Anhion…" He was silent for a moment.

"What happened?"

"A black hole. Artificial one. Something went wrong during orbital experimentation and the whole solar system was sucked in… only Minion and I survived…"

"Oh, I'm… so sorry… How old were you when this happened?"

"Eight days old," Megamind replied bitterly and placed the photo back on the counter.

Roxanne felt as if her heart had broken. This man in front of her was completely alone in the world, save for Minion… and never had the chance to meet his parents… She felt like she had to comfort him somehow, so she placed her hand on his shoulder. A hug would be too much, she thought. At least, not yet.

He looked back at her and nodded with understanding.

"Next question?"

"The other photo. With the children. Why are you wearing a jumpsuit?"

He chuckled. "My pod landed in prison. On one side it was a blessing. The warden hid me so well, that government and all the mad scientist couldn't even touch me. On the other… I was already different… When I went to _shool…_well, I wasn't the most popular one."

"And the young Scott?"

"Oh, yes. _Him._" Megamind grimaced. "He was the rich one, popular one; everybody loved him. Even the teacher. The Golden Boy couldn't do anything wrong."

"They blamed you for everything that went wrong," she assumed. And he confirmed it with a nod.

"It didn't matter how much I tried. Everything I did went wrong. I was the easy target for them." He chuckled cynically. "At one point I started to wonder if I should became a super villain…but I didn't. I wanted… I wanted to be normal; was it so much to ask for?"

He looked straight into her eyes with silent plead, and she felt tears gather in her eyes.

"No. It wasn't," she said, blocking her tears away.

The blue man smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. So…" She cleared her throat. "How did you find this place?"

"Believe it or not, I often escaped from prison. During one of the escapades I found this theatre. It was in ruin and nobody paid attention to it. After I turned eighteen I sold some of my inventions and legally bought this." This time he smiled with pride. "I like this place; it has a character."

"It's definitely something." She smiled back.

"Thanks."

Later they talked a bit about practically nothing and everything, until Roxanne decided that she has to go. And when she tried to leave, she realized how hard it became just to say goodbye…

"Minion?" Megamind asked his hench-fish, once the young reporter disappeared under the hatch.

"Yes, sir?"

"I…I want to give her something."

"What, sir?"

"I'm not sure, yet…"

* * *

><p>Here it is ;] Next chapter is also already written, but I'll post it on Friday ;P<p>

Clicky clicky, the magic button and I might consider updating earlier xD


	8. Chapter 8

The day was rather chilly, bringing the promise of a winter which would soon visit Metro City. At the KMCP8 News Channel Station everything was normal.

Lena hummed happily as she entered the building and looked for her keycard. That was when she heard the voice.

"Is Roxanne Ritchi at work?"

The red head turned abruptly and looked at the tall men at the reception desk. Her jaw slowly went slack. The guy behind the counter quickly checked the workers register then both men nodded with pleasantries and said goodbye.

The guest passed her, giving her a small smile as she stared at him with shock. Wayne Scott, the richest, handsomest, bachelor in the whole Metro City (if not even the state), had come to see Roxanne. If this won't be the hottest gossip of the month, then she didn't know what was.

"And you know, I thought, that lunch could be a great occasion to…" Hal rumbled on and Roxanne sighed, tired of his tirade.

"Listen Hal, this is all very interesting but I already have a-"

"Date with me."

Suddenly Roxanne felt a big hand rest on her shoulder and a shadow hover over her. She turned and saw… the one and only Wayne Scott.

"Excuse me?" she said but he winked to her and with a smile looked at Hal.

"You must be Hal Stewart. My dear girlfriend's cameraman, aren't you?" The young Scott offered his hand to the red head man.

"Y…Yeah…" Hal reluctantly shook hands with Wayne and gulped. "Oh, jeeze. Look at the time! I think I need to go to the viewing room! Bye guys!"

And he was gone quicker than light. Which was funny, considering his posture.

"Hello, Roxanne." Finally the rich man greeted the reporter.

She wrestled her way out of his arms and looked rather displeased with his action.

"Good afternoon, Mister Scott, but that was unnecessary and totally uncalled for," she huffed.

"Oh, please, call me Wayne. And believe me, you looked like you needed help."

"Well, I don't! I'm sorry, sir. But I'm not a damsel in distress and I can take care of myself, especially around Hal."

He thought she was rather cute like that, in a furious kitten way.

She thought he was a pompous ass acting like that around her. Not mentioning that by now, the whole station probably knew about their "relationship", thanks to Hal. Not to mention what he did to Megamind!

"Okay, okay," Wayne said calmly, raising his hands in defense. "I'm sorry. My bad. So what would you say about some dinner as a mean to apologize?"

"Saying "I'm sorry" would be enough. Now if you excuse me, I have a job to do." She walked away completely pissed off.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ritchi!" he called after her, and she had to hold back the urge to turn back and show him the finger.

"Ugh! What an ass!"

Bye her desk she met very nervous, jumpy Lena.

"You met him, didn't you?" she simply asked.

Roxanne groaned. "If you mean that idiot Scott, then yes, I met him."

"Is it true?"

"What? No, it's _not_ true! He just popped out of nowhere!" she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hell! I haven't even _met_ him until today!"

"You sure?" Lena furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yes… wait!" Sudden realization hit the reporter. "No. I met him once, in a club, but I never even _spoke_ to him!"

"You do realize that tomorrow morning the whole city will know about this?"

"Ugh! This is insane!"

"I know. Listen, take a deep breath. Now, do you have a real boyfriend?"

"No."

"Do you have someone that could act as your boyfriend?" Lena continued to ask.

"I…" Roxanne didn't have many male friends… But there was one person… "I'm not sure. I do have someone, but… I don't think he'll agree…"

"Try to convince him until the Halloween party, okay?"

"Halloween party?" The brunette raised her head quickly and looked at Lena.

"Yes, the one our station organizes for the workers each year, remember?"

"Yes?"

"Now, this is what you're going to do. Explain to everyone who asks you that the rumors are untrue, that this is a misunderstanding, and that you're going to bring your _real_ boyfriend to the party, so everyone can meet him, okay?" Lena gathered Roxanne with one of her arms and gave her a short hug. "You'll see; everything will be just fine."

Meanwhile, back at the Theatre…

The dynamic duo sat in the dining room. The whole table was covered in small hills of papers.

"Diamonds?" Megamind read from one of the pages.

"No. Too flashy. And too soon," Minion declined and went through another page.

"Her named engraved into Mars?"

"Definitely not!" Seriously, the blue alien's ideas were heading into extremes very quickly. "Flowers?" the fish suggested.

"She's not a goat… And it's not original," the blue man huffed. "An island?"

"How are you going to give _that_ to her?"

"You're right… Next!"

"What about chocolates?"

"Cliché! Next." Suddenly Megamind stopped and read the page again. "Minion! I think I found the perfect gift!"

The fish looked at him, rather worried… Whatever it was, knowing his master, it could be very…explosive.

* * *

><p>As promised here is the 8th chapter ;] With some Gaston!Wayne in it ;] The idea of craving Roxanne's name into the Mars came from the pic made by Megabluelove (ProjectBlue02 on dA) from Megamind's LJ comm, which she made for Valentine's Day last year xD (me commands you to go and see her work. She's awesome!)<p>

Review please. I know it's short. I'll try making them maybe slightly longer, but you know, you can't argue with the muse ;P


	9. Chapter 9

This time the trap door opened before she could reach the handle. Although surprised at first, Roxanne smiled at the blue face in front of her.

"Knock, knock."

"I'm not really sure how I should answer that, but… hello," Megamind said, returning the smile. "And even though I'm happy to see you, do tell me what you're doing here so late?"

"Well, I have a question to ask you," she answered while climbing out of the tunnel. "Actually, two now. First one: You don't know 'knock, knock' jokes?"

"I'm not familiar with those, so, no. I'm not." He helped her get up. "Care to explain?"

"Sure. When I say, 'knock, knock', you say, 'who's there' I answer something and you repeat what I said adding 'who?' and there comes the punch line. It's just a silly joke."

He looked as if he hadn't really gotten the purpose of that 'joke', but he lived so long in seclusion she couldn't really blame him.

"Fascinating. We need to try it later. What's the next question?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah…the next question…" She ran a hand through her hair, slightly uncomfortable with what she was about to ask him. "Maybe we could sit down?"

He nodded and they walked to the line of remaining chairs in the theatre.

"So… where's Minion?" she tried to start slowly before going for the main story.

"This is your question?" He raised his eyebrows confused.

"No, this is just a means of starting this, okay?" Roxanne explained.

"Okay. Minion is currently maintaining some machines necessary for the proper functioning of this place. Actually I should be doing this too, but wanted to get a drink, spotted you on the screen and here we are…" He cleared his throat, fumbling with his fingers.

He was glad she was here; she'd managed to visit him twice in a matter of a few days. He wasn't sure how he should react to this… Had she liked his company that much? Suddenly he felt a blush creeping across his face. _Just brilliant… _He sighed.

"Well, that's very interesting," the young reporter said. "Listen…I…um… Wayne Scott came to the Station and… well, this stupid situation occurred…" She took a deep breath. "Everyone now thinks I'm his girlfriend or something! He was such an ass! Bossing me around, thinking he's the center of the universe! The nerve!" she burst out. _Again, deep breath, calm down_. "So I thought that if I had a real boyfriend, the hoax would simply die out and… Would you like to be my boyfriend? I mean, to pretend…? If that's okay with you, that's it. I mean. It's a very strange situation, I'll understand if you won't agree…"

The last part was said so fast and was so bizarre, that Megamind needed couple of seconds to understand what exactly she was talking about.

"Give me a second." Now he needed to take a deep breath. "So you're saying that you don't want to be the girlfriend of Wayne Scott, and you want me to act as your boyfriend so he'll leave you alone?"

"Basically, yes. You see, there's this Halloween party at the station, so I could introduce you officially and...you know," she finished a bit awkwardly, hoping he would agree.

"Wow… that's… a first for me."

"Sorry."

"No, it's… okay. Well, I need to think about it…"

Roxanne felt kind of stupid, like she was back in high school asking a guy out. But she wasn't in high school, though the whole situation seemed like one of those teenage-romance movies. She found herself rambling nervously.

"Oh, sure! If you need a couple of days, that's fine; you know, I believe I gave Minion my cellphone number so if you'd like to give me an answer, or refuse, which I'm fine with, because this is such a weird situation and all-"

"Okay. I agree." He interrupted her rambling so suddenly she had to blink a couple of times to bring herself back.

"You… what? You agree?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Oh! Thank you so much!"

Suddenly Roxanne hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"Um…you're welcome," he said back, this time blushing horribly. "Now… I believe you should be getting home…unless you want to…stay a night here." He stood up; trying to hide how happy her kiss had made him, still failing miserably at hiding the hope in his eyes.

"You're right. I should go." She checked her watch and smiled sheepishly at him. "Thank you. You're a life savior." She squeezed his hand and soon, she was gone.

Megamind stood there for a good while until Minion came looking for him.

"Sir? Sir, is everything all right? You look…well, you look rather…" the confused fish said, noticing how love sick his ward looked.

"Uh… huh? Oh, Minion. Everything's fine. Don't worry, my fantastic fishy friend. Everything is just peachy."

The blue alien started to walk, whistling, leaving Minion with a completely lost expression on his face.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Minion?" Megamind spun on his heel, grinning like an idiot.

"Does this have a connection to Miss Ritchi?" Minion asked carefully.

"Miss Ritc... Oh, no! Absolutely not…! Okay, maybe a little bit?" The fish raised an eyebrow. "Okay. More than a little bit. She asked me to be her boyfriend!"

"Wait. What?" Minion's jaw dropped slightly.

"Well, actually to pretend to be him, but! A boyfriend nevertheless, and she kissed me on cheek!" Megamind pointed to the said cheek all excited.

"Oh sir, that's wonderful! We should celebrate!"

So they did.

Roxanne barely managed to get back home when her cellphone rang.

"Did he agree?" She heard Lena's conspiratorial whisper on the other end of the line.

"Yes! He did! Can you believe that? I was so relieved; he's a really sweet guy. And… why are you talking like that?"

"It's my sisters and my parents! They're ganging up on me to grow up! They act in collusion! Want me to throw out all of my _Trekkie_ and _Star Wars_ stuff!"

Roxanne had known Lena just for a few days, but already she'd learnt that the woman was like a mathematical genius when it came to accountants' work, very independent, and outspoken person with the sharpness of a razor. And yet, she still managed to be extremely childish.

"You want me to help you?"

"Yes!"

_This is gonna be a looong night…_ Roxanne thought.

* * *

><p>This one is slightly longer. Slightly. Hope you enjoy ;]<p>

Review?


	10. Chapter 10

"I don't think this is such a good idea, after all," Megamind said, turning his head cautiously after another group of people walked past them.

It had already been two weeks since their agreement. Roxanne, after fourteen days of non-stop working and repealing any gossip considering her and Wayne Scott, had decided to finally take Megamind on a "date". She would have done so earlier, but was too tired with her new responsibilities.

"Oh, come on. You look great. Some social activities will do you good after all those years of isolation."

"Sure…" he answered with doubt in his voice, and once again checked his disguise in the shop's window.

Roxanne had coaxed him into using the old one, since it was the closest one to his actual look. Though it was still a shock to see him looking like that.

"Again, where are we going?" he asked her.

"To see a movie, and then to get some dinner. You know the drill."

"Oh, please, not the drill," he snorted with a smile and she punched his arm playfully.

"Very funny." But she couldn't help laughing anyway. "It won't be that bad. Here." She slipped her arm through his. "See, we just need to pretend how happy we are together and everything will be just fine. Trust me."

He blushed at her action, but nodded and winked. "Whatever you say, dear."

Roxanne chuckled and checked her watch. "We still have some time before the movie starts. And there's someone who's going to bite my head off unless she meets you."

"What?" His eyes grew wide as plates and his heart sunk. This wasn't part of the agreement, was it?

"Wow! Nice too meet you. I'm Lena!"

The three of them were in a corner coffee shop. Megamind had to agree with Roxanne; the red head was…really something.

"Um… hello?"

"So what's the plan for today?" Lena asked Roxanne.

"Standard, just so we could show ourselves together and maybe start some other rumors, final deconstruction of the previous ones."

The accountant had spotted someone in the crowd behind them and waved energetically. "Phil! Over here!"

"Who?" Megamind turned his head, and when he saw the man, he gulped. "Roxanne…we better go now," he said with a warning.

"What? Why?"

Lena's boyfriend walked over to their table and welcomed Lena. "Hey, honey."

"Hey, listen this is Roxanne and her _boyfriend_… What's your name again?"

"Oh, look at the hour! It was nice to meet you, Phil, Lena, but Roxanne and I need to go, now, or risk being late for the movie, so…bye!" The action was quick. Megamind practically dragged Roxanne out of the joint.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked him, worried.

"I assume you haven't met that guy before?"

"No, why?"

"Nothing, let's just go and see the movie, okay?"

The atmosphere after that was quite heavy at first, but once the movie began, Megamind relaxed and once again they could enjoy their fun.

After the movie, Roxanne raised an important question.

"So what _is_ your name? What should I call you?" she asked on their way to dinner. "Because I seriously doubt that your real name actually _is_ 'Megamind'."

"And you're right. It was one of the nicknames given to me by my prison uncles," he said with a light smile.

"So…?" she inquired further.

"It's Kher'than."

"Okay… So, Ker… Kher… How do you say it again?" It was harder than she thought.

He laughed.

"Kher'than."

She repeated it a couple of times until she got it perfect.

"I like your name," she said, making him blush even more.

"Thank you."

The rest of the evening they talked about random things; his inventions, her work and their hobbies.

Finally he walked her to her apartment building.

"That was a nice, _pretended_, date," he said, letting go of her hand reluctantly.

"Yes, it was," she admitted, looking at her feet. Why was this so embarrassing? _And did it just get warmer all of a sudden?_

Suddenly Megamind reached for her hand and kissed it, with a slight bow.

"Good night, Miss Ritchi."

Her cheeks were a formidable substitute for a traffic light.

"G-Goodnight… Kher'than."

He walked away, and she had to wait a couple of seconds until she had enough will power to go upstairs. _What a day!_

_What was I thinking! ARGH! Bad idea! Bad, bad idea!_ If he'd been able to, he would have personally kicked himself for that little stunt. _She said, pretend! Pretend! For God's sake!_ Not that he minded if they would go past pretending, but still… What if someone saw them? … Well, basically that was the purpose of it in the first place. But he had so little time left… She obviously didn't mind him at all… He slapped himself.

"Snap out of it!" he said to himself, as he climbed back up into his hideout. "Just play it cool and everything is going to be just fine… I hope."

"You know, talking to yourself is a bad sign."

Megamind screamed, surprised. "Wha…! Oh, it's you."

"Good evening, Megamind," Phil Coulson greeted the alien. "I hope the date was enjoyable."

"Yes, it was. And how did you get in here? Where's Minion?"

"You fish friend is in the kitchen, making tea. And it was you who granted me this pass in here, remember?"

"Oh, right. What do you want?"

"Section 7 sent me to check on you. And we would like to buy one of your inventions."

"As you can see, I'm still alive. Which one?"

The men talked for a moment. Section 7 was Megamind's best client. They were the ones who kept him out of the government medical facilities, thanks to Metro City's Prison Warden, who had connections there.

"Is that all?" the blue alien asked, after the contract was signed.

"Hmm. Yes, I think so. Oh, yes. Congratulations. I hope this time you can work things out with Miss Ritchi. The USA would suffer greatly without your intellect."

"Yeah, like you care."

The day's balance: could have been worse.

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><p>Nyan. Here's another one ;] Enjoy!<p>

And please do remember to review ;D


	11. Chapter 11

Roxanne was late for work. Like, really, horribly, unbelievingly late. She had Megamind to blame, because they had spent almost two and half hours talking on the phone the previous night. He was calling, fortunately, because there was no way she could afford such a bill. At first they were talking about their previous date and planning the next one; then it led to his inventions, her day and all things non-important. It was strange how good it was to talk to him at the end of the day; almost like they had known each other their whole lives. The last thirty minutes of their talk was about their deceased families. A sad topic, but it was…nice, in Roxanne's eyes, that she could talk to Megamind about it. She even told him about the family treasure; a pendant she had to sell when she had money troubles. And all the while, he listened.

But now she was late. And her desk…oh, he desk… Everything was messed up and there was this photo from some third rate tabloid of her and Megamind (in disguise) during their date with a red writing all over it stating: CHEATER.

"Okay, who did that?" She turned on her heel, placing her hand on her hips and looking threatening. Silence was her answer. Roxanne sighed. "Listen one more time, people! I'm. Not. Dating. Wayne Scott. Got that? And this guy," She picked the photo, "is my _real_ boyfriend, okay?"

Once again, she was met with silence. Roxanne just huffed, irritated, grabbed what she needed and went to find Hal to get a scoop.

During her lunch break she managed to escape Hal's failing attempts of flirting with her by calling Lena, to tell her what happened.

"_It's not like you couldn't predict that kind of reaction,"_ the red head reasoned. "_I mean, over half the population of Metro City is in love with this guy. He's like a demigod to them."_

"I know, but why? What does he have that makes women act this way?" Roxanne ran a hand through her hair, looking around while waiting in a queue to buy her take away lunch.

"_I'd say money, looks, power; I've heard his family has someone in the Government, pretty high in the ranks…and he's still a bachelor. And it's not just women, mind you."_

Roxanne could easily imagine Lena in her chair while playing with her pencil, making that '_I'm so smart_' face of hers.

"Very funny," the brunette snorted at the last remark.

"_I'm just stating the truth, friend. How's the situation with Wayne?"_

"Ugh, please don't talk to me about it. He's such a jerk! He dares to show up any moment he sees fit and demands my outmost attention to him. Like the second he's near me I should just drop everything I'm doing and swoon over him."

Lena chuckled. "_He's still trying to bribe you?"_

"Yep. He bought me flowers…to which I'm allergic to. But that was a week ago. Three days ago, he practically kidnapped me when I was filming and brought me to an Indian restaurant, made order for both of us, not even _asking_ me if I was hungry _or_ if I wasn't allergic to peanuts, to which I am! And two days ago he bought me a diamond necklace, with a note saying, "_I have frozen my love in these expensive stones. Because nothing is as expensive as you_". I've sent them back. I'm kind of scared of what he might try to do today…"

"_Ugh, cheesy… By the way, how's that beard of yours doing? What's his name again?"_

"It's Kher'than."

There was a short pause on the other end of the line. _"He's not American?"_

"No." Roxanne pressed her phone against her shoulder for a second and made her order.

"_Did you notice how he acted when Phil came? I asked my man if they knew each other, but he was very evasive. I'm thinking about spying on him."_

"Who? Phil?" Roxanne's heart began racing with panic. _If Lena tries to spy on Megamind…_

"_Of course, silly. I mean, he's very secretive. It's not like I don't trust him; actually that's why I love him so much. You know, trust and all that stuff. But sometimes my hands just itch to unravel some of those mysteries which are Phil Coulson."_

Roxanne paused at that. "What did you just say?"

"_Mysteries which are Phil Coulson? What? Is something wrong?"_

"No, no. The line broke up for a second and I didn't hear the last part."

"_Yeah, well, what about the costumes? You know the party is next week, right?"_

"What costumes? Oh! The Halloween costumes. Yes. We decided on a common theme."

"_Yeah? What is it?" _Lena's interest perked up.

"It's a secret." Roxanne chuckled, imagining how her friend would be roll her eyes.

"_Bad move, girl! Thou cannot keep it from me!"_

"I know." She laughed a bit. "Okay, I've gotta go. Bye!"

"_Hey! I'm not…!"_

Roxanne hung up, not waiting for Lena's response and bit down into her lunch.

Wayne put down the newspaper with a sense of disgust. Some low life was trying to steal _his_ woman from him.

At first he didn't believe it when Roxanne told him about that…fellow. He thought it was a ploy to get rid of that worm. _What's-his-name, Howard?_ _Something along those lines…_ But these dates had been going on for almost a month. Each one documented in those ragged so called newspapers. Making _him_ look a fool. _HIM!_ This was bad.

He would have _sort-of_ understood if this man was as good looking as himself, but he was rather scrawny. Wayne couldn't recognize his face, so he couldn't be anyone important; just a random nobody. This made the betrayal sting even more. Didn't he have everything? Good looks, money, power? Wasn't that what women wanted in a man? Apparently Roxanne had her values misplaced…

He needed to keep an eye on her. Make sure she was safe, because…because she had to be delusional!

He hadn't talked with her about it yet. He tried a couple of times, but he was always interrupted by his phone, Roxanne's phone, her boss, that fatso cameraman or that red haired woman. _Especially_ the red haired woman. It was as if she had some kind of radar! But during the Halloween party, he would explain all the misunderstandings and Roxanne will come to her senses.

He'll make sure of it.

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><p>Phew! God, that took long. Sorry. Really. I hope next chapter will be up faster and will be much longer ;] Yes, let's hope...<p>

Anyway! Review! Pretty please?


	12. Chapter 12

"Sir, I'm pretty sure that the time doesn't stop just because you delay doing something!" Minion shouted out to his ward, who was tinkering with a robot a couple of meters above his friend. The loud music wasn't helping the situation.

"What did you say, Minion?" Megamind shouted back down.

"I said you should start getting ready!"

The volume got higher.

"I can't hear you!"

"SIR!" Minion was slowly losing his patience.

Megamind sighed; of course he could hear Minion. He was just… nervous. He was trying to occupy his mind with other stuff, instead of thinking about…the day's event. He turned off the music.

"Alright. Wait, I'll get down there." He grabbed a nearby line and slid down it.

"Now, was it really that hard, sir?"

"Yes."

Minion just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. Sir, Miss Ritchi is going to be here very soon, so I ask you to get ready now."

"Yes, yes. On it. It's just that… I have this _really _bad feeling, you know? Like something is bound to happen. And I'm not sure if I want this to happen…"

"It's going to be all right. Sir, you've dated Miss Ritchi for over a month. She likes you and you like her. It's going to be all right! Just ask her. Please remember that we're running out of time."

"And there's that. Like and love are different, Minion…" Megamind sighed, but obeyed his friend's request and went to his room to get changed.

Later on, Roxanne arrived carrying a big bag.

"Hey, Minion. Is he ready?" she asked.

"Not yet," said the fish, helping her up.

"Good, it will give me time to prepare." Roxanne patted the bag.

"I'll assign few Brainbots to help you if you want to," Minion offered. "The ones which will behave," he added, knowing the habits of the little robots.

Roxanne chuckled and thanked the fish, then headed to the green room in order to get changed. Minion found the most appropriate Brainbots and sent them to her, while he went to check on his ward.

"Sir, are you ready?" Minion knocked on the door and went inside.

"She's here, isn't she?" Megamind played nervously with the cuff of his shirt.

"Yes, she is. She's changing right now."

"Good…" Megamind gulped and looked into the mirror. His stomach turned and his heart began beating rapidly. How exactly had he found himself in a situation like this? Oh, right, because he was a fool who couldn't refuse a woman… _beautiful, smart woman… Roxanne…_ He shook his head to chase away his thoughts. _Everything will be fine. Just breathe and don't make a bigger fool out of yourself… well, not bigger than usual…_ "So… how do I look?"

He turned to face Minion. The fish gave him a judging look. Megamind wore white shirt, blue jacket with golden buttons and golden lace on the trimming and on the cuffs, golden vest, black pants with golden vertical line on the sides and for some reason his usual leather boots. He still was his usual blue self.

"Wonderful, sir. Miss Ritchi will be thrilled." Minion smiled widely, overjoyed with the situation. He really hoped tonight would be a major turnabout in the relationship between Roxanne and Megamind.

"I do hope so." The blue man went to the desk which stood next to the mirror and took a box from it. "You'll think she'll like it?"

"I know it, sir." The fish placed a reassuring metallic hand on his shoulder. Suddenly a Brainbot entered the room. It seemed that Roxanne was also ready.

Gulping with nervousness Megamind followed it to meet his date.

She was waiting on the main stage, her back facing him. At first he didn't recognized her, but who else could have been standing there? In that beautiful, long golden dress? When she turned to face him, it was as if the time slowed down. He could swear his heart stopped the moment they looked each other in the eyes. And then she smiled.

"Is it that bad?" she asked.

"Huh…?" he blinked, completely astounded, eyes wide, mouth gaping.

Until Minion cleared his throat, with slightly scolding, "Sir!"

"Oh! No… no, no. Absolutely no! You're… you're…" he took a deep breath. "You're the most beautiful woman on this planet," he breathed.

Roxanne blushed. "Thanks, you're not so bad either."

"Thank you…um… Your hair…it's…longer," he noticed.

"Oh, yes. Well, I bought some extensions. They look very natural, don't they?" She ran a hand through them and shifted a bit, feeling slightly unnerved by the situation. _Geeze, I feel like I'm about to go to prom! All that's missing is my dad threatening to shoot his head off if anything happens to me… _she thought, feeling a surge of sadness while thinking about her family.

"Yes, they do… But you know? Something is missing."

"Hmm? What?"

Suddenly he gave her a velvet box, tided up with a ribbon.

"What is it?" she asked, untying the ribbon.

"A present. Open it. I hope you like it."

When she opened the box, her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes went wide and her hands trembled. Roxanne had to fight back her tears so she didn't ruin her makeup.

"How did you…?"

"You remember when you told me about your family? That you had a hard time and had to sell something important to you. Remember, our phone talk from a week ago?"

"You were asking me about details on that necklace…" she whispered, feeling a single tear trailing her cheek.

"Yeah, well, here it is…" he whispered back.

"Oh, Khe'rtan!" She threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem. It was important to you." He hugged her back.

She was so warm in his arms and she smelled so good… He wished to stay with her like this forever.

But she broke that embrace, wiped her face, and smiling brightly she offered for him to put the necklace on her. Happily, he obliged.

"Now, just one more thing," Megamind said, and turned on his image inducer.

A blue light flickered around him and soon in front of Roxanne stood human Megamind but with longer blond hair, tied up in a small pony tail and a pair of horns attached to his head.

Roxanne laughed. "Truly wonderful look," she said as he offered her his arm and they both walked to his car.

Minion waved at them, telling them to have fun as they departed. And in his small fishy soul he really wished everything would turn out great for the two of them.

* * *

><p>Sappy, anyone? xD *backs off slowly* yeah, yeah, two months, huh... *deep bow* I'm Sorry! Please accept this humble chapter and pray I will update faster! *runs away very quickly* Review please~~!<p>

Also to those reviewers without the account!: Thank you Roxie, Anonymous person and Icaria Wordsmith! It means a lot to me ;D


	13. Chapter 13

The editorial office of the KMCP 8 News Channel was turned into a cave of horrors. All of the desks had been moved somewhere else. Creepy Halloween ornaments hung from the ceiling and the wall were covered with black material, fake candle holders which emitted blue light, artificial cobwebs and rubber spiders. Fake pumpkins were placed haphazardly around and on one of the tables stood a cauldron which emitted mist.

"Wow… This is pretty amazing," Megamind noticed, as a Frankenstein monster took his coat.

"Thanks, John." Roxanne gave her own coat to 'Frank' and replied to her date. "Well our editor, Mr. Bonnin, is really hyper about Halloween. He says it's even better than Christmas because he can scare people without getting sued."

"He must be a very peculiar man," Megamind mused.

They found a pouting Lena near the cauldron, dressed as Uhura from _Star Trek_.

"Hey, Lena; what's wrong?"

The red head turned her head to reply, but then noticed their outfits and squealed with excitement.

"Oh, my God! Your costumes! OMG!" She twirled Roxanne around. "You both look fantastic!" She jumped around them .

"You don't look so bad yourself, Lena," Roxanne complimented her friend as well.

"Really nice." Megamind nodded. "Where's Phil?"

At that question Lena began pouting again. "Hmpf, who cares about that man – whose name I won't mention."

"You had a fight?" Roxanne asked worried.

"Sort of… Kind of… Not really… He just refused to dress up as Spock."

The couple had to fight the urge to laugh at that remark, imagining the serious man dressed as the Voulcan character.

"So, who's he dressed as?" Megamind inquired further.

"One of the guys from _Men in Black_."

Now the blue alien snorted. That wasn't a costume; that was an uniform…

"I know, right!" Lena exclaimed, wrongly reading his reaction. "That's so annoying…"

"I'm sure it will be okay," the brunette assured her friend and squeezed her arm.

"You know what, ladies? I'll go and look for him, okay?" Megamind proposed, and both women nodded in agreement.

"He should be somewhere around the bathrooms." Lena gave him some sense of direction and so he headed there.

"So… Beauty and the Beast?" Lena raised her eyebrow at Roxanne. "I never thought of you as kiddie-movie sentimental type. Though you both look stunning."

"Look who's talking, Trekkie." Roxanne chuckled. "But thanks, I thought that these costumes were… appropriate."

The accountant was about to ask how so, but she noticed something behind the reporter's back.

"Prince Charming's here, Princess."

"Who?"Roxanne turned around and saw Wayne entering. "Oh, God. Who's he's dressed as?"

"I bet Prince Charming from _Shrek_. They have a lot in common, I wager."

"Okay, don't look; maybe he won't see us."

Both women turned back to the snack table, pretending everything was fine. Roxanne was about to pour herself some punch when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Roxanne, as beautiful as always."

"Wayne, I'd like you to take your hand off my shoulder. My boyfriend is here and he wouldn't be pleased to see you do that," she said calmly with a stern voice.

Lena nervously sipped her own drink, looking desperately with her eyes for her friend's date. The atmosphere was so heavy it could crack concrete.

"Oh, please, my dove; that won't hide the fact how much you'd like to be with me, especially since you're dressed like that." Young Scott almost devoured her with his eyes. "We're the perfect couple."

"I beg to differ." Roxanne tossed her hair back, huffing irritated. She really had enough of him. And he wasn't even there for more than two minutes!

Meanwhile, Megamind had found Phil.

"Hey, Killson!"

The man was about to ask who he was, when it clicked and he sighed heavily.

"Once again, it's Coulson. Nice costume." Phil scanned the blue alien's disguise.

"Thanks. I would tell you the same if you weren't wearing your work gear." Megamind snickered.

"Laugh as much as you want, I'm not into Halloween," the federal agent grunted. "There's too many people looking like our 'clients'."

"Fortunately your girlfriend has twice the Halloween spirit for the both of you. So are you here to watch me?"

"No, actually. The world doesn't revolve around you, Mr. Kher'than. Lena dragged me here. It's important for her, so I'm here, even if reluctantly." Phil straitened his jacket, pushing the black shades on nose.

"So am I… I mean, for Roxanne, that is…" The blue man waved his hand gesturing Coulson to follow. "Come on, agent Kay, or is it Jay? Whatever, let's go and see the ladies."

How surprised they were to see a panicked Lena, a pissed off Roxanne and a bit too comfortable with himself Wayne.

"Is something wrong?" Megamind took his place next to his date, encircling his arm around her waist, watching Wayne with obvious challenge in his eyes.

"No, honey; Mr. Scott was leaving."

Wayne looked as if he'd been slapped. For a second he stood there, his body rigid and his hands in fists. But then he quickly composed himself.

"But not before introducing myself to this gentleman. Wayne Scott, the heir to Scott Incorporated. But you must have heard of me," the man gloated. "So, with whom do I have the pleasure to meet?"

"It's Kher'than Nili; I'm an inventor. Doubt you ever heard of me, _Mr. Scott._" Megamind said Wayne's name with a slight mockery and shook his hand. The both of them tried to squeeze the other's hand harder, sending threatening looks at each other.

Finally they both retreated. Wayne bowed his head and left to talk to Mr. Bonnin.

"Is it all right for you to give him your name?" Roxanne asked her friend, touching his shoulder.

Megamind smiled at her softly. "Yeah, it's okay." Then he leant in and whispered so the other two couldn't hear, "But don't call me Megamind in front of him. That one he _will_ recognize." He brushed a hair from her face.

"I don't know about you, guys, but he starting to look more and more like an obsessive stalker bordering over psychopath," Lena cut in.

"Don't worry, honey." Phil told her reassuringly. "If he tries something which might damage Roxanne or Kher'than… Well, let's say he'll get one hell of a surprise." The agent sent Megamind a knowing look.

"My macho-man." Lena hugged her beau. "Okay, enough of the sentimental stuff! Let's dance!" She grabbed his hand dragging him behind her onto the dance floor.

"You know, she has quite a good idea." Roxanne smirked and before her date could protest, the blue alien also got pushed over there.

Just his luck, the DJ began with a slow dance. Megamind gulped. "I'm not good with dancing."

"Then it's your lucky day. I am. Put your hands on my waist." She took his hands in hers and placed them on her waist, then she put her arms around his neck. "It's called 'two step'." She smiled widely at his embarrassed expression and began to sway slightly to the music.

Megamind's heart raced. They were so close to each other… His eyes from time to time were drifting to his feet, making sure he wouldn't step on hers, but mostly he was watching her face.

She was so cut, with those sparkly blue eyes, a soft smile and a slight blush in her cheeks. Somehow he couldn't really hear the music anymore; the dance floor was empty to him. It was just him and her…

Roxanne hoped that her makeup was covering the bright red blush on her face. It was so good that her hands were behind his neck, because she was sure they would shake. They were so close… His body a mere inches from hers and his eyes…those big, green orbs, which fascinated her so much. She could almost drown in them. What was he thinking or feeling? Was he, just like her, shaken by this small, innocent dance? She desperately wanted to know.

Suddenly a voice broke into their happy bubble.

"Khert and Roxanne sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G!" Lena chuckled when the couple, slightly ashamed, jumped away from each other. The red head laughed and Phil sent them an apologetic look, but it was quite visible that he was enjoying their embarrassment.

Thankfully Lena's comment made them noticed the music change to a much faster rhythm. But still too awkward to return to their previous activity, Megamind and Roxanne decided to get something to drink.

"That friend of yours," the blue man said slowly. "She's a devil."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll punish her later."

They both laughed.

Wayne watched it all from afar, the cup in his hand slightly cracking. _That pipsqueak, who dares to take my Roxanne away from me…_ Who was he? Something in him was awfully familiar to the young businessman… If there was only a way for him to get close to Mr. Nili, if that was even his real name…

He looked to his right to get some more punch and was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Roxanne's geeky cameraman.

"I bet it's all fake," Hal said out of nowhere. "She can't be happy with this dude; I mean, look at him! She needs a real man and not…well, not him!"

"Hmm, indeed." Wayne watched the shorter man, a plan forming in his head.

"I mean, he's so skinny and what's with his eyes? Too big for a normal person. He's probably best friend with a surgeon's scalpel or something…" Hal continued to ramble.

"Mister…" Wayne looked around in his memory to recall the cameraman's name. "Stewart."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to work for me? I mean, for the greater good of Roxanne?"

"Umm… sure, why not?"

"Perfect." Wayne smiled, patting the red head. "I have a job that's just for you…"

* * *

><p>Okay! Hello, and sorry for long delay, but my exams are overrrr! xD<p>

oh, and Megamind's surname, it's in Persian meaning indigo. Though I'm not sure about the transcription, in original it's, (hope you can see it): نیلی

Review, please!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The winter decided to take Metro City by surprise. One day it was all dry streets and mild weather, the next everything was white. The temperature dropped so suddenly and the snow fell in such an amount that most of the city was left at a stand-still.

The electricity was cut off, people were in major distress – except for the children, and…

The snowball landed straight between Megamind's eyes and Roxanne burst out laughing. They were in the park. The blue man was wearing his disguise, as usual when in public.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" he shouted at her and gathered a portion of snow in his hands. "Take this!" He threw the snow at her… and the reporter dodged.

"You need to work on your aim!" She stuck her tongue at him and giggled.

"My aim is flawless!" Megamind struck a pose. "You're just too stubborn to acknowledge that!"

"Uh-huh…" Roxanne snorted, raising her eyebrow and smirking at him.

"Hey! What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

Roxanne shrugged. "Nothing. Just that you're a loser, Megamind," she teased.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really."

"I'm so going to make you call that off!" Megamind launched after her, and Roxanne squeaked before she began to run away from him.

"You'll never get me!" she shouted at him.

"Wait and see, Miss Ritchi!"

He eventually caught her, closing her in his arms.

"I've got you!" he exclaimed victoriously and she laughed.

Suddenly they tripped and began to tumble down the hill they were on, screaming, cursing and most of all laughing. And when they reached the bottom, Roxanne landed on her back, still chuckling, while Megamind was on top of her. Their eyes met and for the moments that followed they stared at each other, their laughter dying away.

"Sir! Miss Ritchi! Where are you?" the panicked voice of Minion snapped them away from the daze. They moved away from each other, both blushing furiously.

"We're here!" Megamind shouted, then sighed and stood up. "Here, let me help you." He stretched out his hand to Roxanne to help her up.

"Thanks," she said sheepishly, accepting his hand and hauling herself up. That was when Minion found them.

"What happened?" The fish was shocked at their state. "You're all covered in snow! We have to get you back into the lair or you'll catch flue! Or influenza! Or… or Death!" Minion fussed around.

"Yes, Mum," the blue man mumbled under his breath and Roxanne snickered.

The fish shot him a displeased glare. Megamind cleared his throat and walked past his friend.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

The walk back home was never so awkward.

Meanwhile young Mr. Scott was reading a detailed report from the first hired detective. The man has been working for a week now and Wayne was very, very displeased with his work.

"What do you mean you can't find anything?!" Wayne roared, slamming the report into his desk. "This is ridiculous! You were supposed to be the best!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Scott, but that's all I've got on him. He's clean."

"Leave!" Wayne ordered the man.

The P.I. hesitated for a moment but bowed slightly and left. The secretary was already waiting for him with a check.

Wayne walked up to the window in his office, anger slowly boiling inside of him. His fist hit the glass and the window cracked, breaking his skin and making him bleed.

_That dimwitted midget! He's definitely hiding something! There's no human with such a clean background… _he thought viciously.

He walked up to his desk and pressed a button on his phone.

"Miss Clearwater, please hire another P.I. and make sure he's good this time…"

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><p>*whistles innocently* ... so... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ;]<p>

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	15. Chapter 15

Another report flew out of the window, and the third Private Investigator was thrown out through Wayne's office's doors. Wayne angrily stomped around the room. These men were fools! Fools!

He hoped his other investigator – if you could call him that – was doing much better.

Hal Jordan. A klutz, computer geek and generally a creepy guy. Wayne doubted he could ever get the job done. Hal was following Roxanne while also digging for some dirt on _Mr. Nili._ So far he was sending Wayne footage of a perfectly happy couple.

Wayne got so sick and tired of watching those that he stopped and shoved any others Hal sent to him in his draw, unwatched. Hal was horrible at taking photos, and it seemed that camera operating was the only thing he was good at.

The young man ran a hand through his hair and huffed as he sank into his chair. It was almost December, and nothing. _It's time to call Hal off, maybe give up…_

Anger boiled inside of him and he clenched his fist. The perspective of giving up made him revolt. _I, Wayne Samuel Scott, will NEVER give up. Scotts NEVER back down. NEVER!_

He pulled his drawer open with force, making the whole desk shudder, and tore into the unwatched videotapes. _There has to be something! There just HAS TO BE!_

~~00~~

Roxanne brushed her hair and hummed happily. It was good to have a friend like Megamind. Even if they had begun on… unusual terms, to say the least.

The young woman had been practically living in the old theatre, since the heating in her own apartment decided to die on her. And with the freezing winter, the older buildings had it harder than the newer ones. Like Roxanne's block of flats.

Megamind had offered her a place at his lair, and after a short while of doubts and calculation, Roxanne agreed to move in for a short while.

She put the brush down and looked at herself in the mirror. It felt so strange to be so close to him. At first he was this odd and annoying man, then suddenly her dearest friend and now… it felt so weird… He could always make her laugh, make her feels safe and…and _good, _somehow.

Roxanne took the brush again and began to play with it in her hands, then looked at herself in the mirror. Could she…? No. It was such a silly idea… The brunette sighed. She needed advice. Maybe she should talk to Lena.

She stood up and left the Green Changing Room and bumped straight into Megamind.

"Ah, sorry!" she apologized a bit sheepishly.

"No, no! It's my fault." Megamind said quickly. "Ah, here! You dropped it." He handed her jacket to her. "You're… going somewhere?"

"Um, yeah…" Roxanne brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, taking the jacket from him and her eyes focused on her hands rather than him. "I mean, yes. I'm…going to visit Lena." She smiled a bit.

Damn it felt so uncomfortable to be around each other after the accident in the park… Her eyes tried to look at anything but him. She shifted on her feet, trying to think of something to say.

Suddenly they spoke at the same time.

"Would you…" he said.

"Could I…" she said.

They both paused and looked at each other and chuckled.

"Please, you first." Megamind said, motioning to her.

"Thanks." She cleared her throat. "I was wondering if I could stay overnight at Lena's. I want to get some stuff from my own apartment and head to her place, if that's not a problem." She looked at him hopefully.

"Oh, not at all, Miss Ritchi! You are by no means a prisoner here; why would you need to ask me such a thing?" He gesticulated vigorously; a sign that he was just as nervous as she was.

"Okay, that's…that's good. Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked him curiously.

He seemed to snap out of a daze, his eyes grew wide with surprise. "What? Oh. No. Yes. Maybe…? I mean… Ah…" He ran a hand over his head. "It can wait. We can talk tomorrow, when you get back."

"Okay, it's a date then." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, leaving him stunned. "Bye." She waved to Minion, who went to look for his boss.

"What happened?" the fish asked Megamind and earned only a dazed look with a goofy smile as his ward walked away in a funny manner.

~~00~~

Hal was freezing his butt out in this cold weather. He's been waiting for Roxanne under her block of flats for hours. Everyday. She really should appreciate his effort… If she knew about it. He was so devoted to her! It was so unfair.

His cousin told him recently something about bouncy houses…or clowns. Probably both. Chicks dig bounce houses (or clowns). He was going to get one soon and then, ladies and gentlemen, Hal Stewart would rule the city.

The red head was slowly drifting into a fantasy – where he was living in a mansion, probably in Beverly Hills, a bouncy house in the yard and sexy women in bikinis serving him hamburgers and fries as he was laying on his black, leather couch playing video games.

Suddenly a taxi stopped not so far from him and Roxanne appeared. The sneaky woman; whenever he was following her, she somehow always managed to disappear right in front of his eyes.

But right now she was there, going into her apartment. Fifteen minutes later she came out with a sports bag in one hand and talking on her cellphone.

"Yes, I'm on my way to you," she said as she opened the taxi doors. "I'll be there in ten minutes tops, Lena." She closed the doors and the car drove away.

Hal jumped out of his hiding spot and waved his hand, calling a taxi. Today his waiting post was somewhere else.

~~00~~

Wayne stopped the video, freezing it in one particular moment. There was something on the edge of the frame, something which looked strangely familiar. But it was a bit smudged. Wayne pulled out the disc out of the player. _I'll need to visit a friend to clean the image…_

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><p>Another one!;] happy reading!<p>

review please!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Phil wasn't so happy to be kicked out of the apartment, but what could he do? Lena had said "Girls Night Only" so he had no choice but to surrender. Roxanne gave him the key to her apartment and advice to take a lot of blankets, but he refused. He had his own flat in the city. So he waved them both goodbye and wished the women a great time.

On his way to his car he stopped to stare at this rather weird Snowman next to their building. The snow sculpture looked very familiar, with that red heap of 'hair' on top of its head… Finally the agent just shrugged. _Kids these days_.

The car was chocking a bit and rattling but in the end he managed to start it and drove off, watching the peculiar Snowman in his back mirror.

~~00~~

"But, sir! We have so little time left! Why haven't you told her yet?" Minion fussed over the Megamind, who was slouching on the stool, his head lying on the table top covered with his arms.

He raised his head and then dropped it again.

"I have no idea," he said. "I just… whenever I get closer to her and want to tell her, it's like my tongue turns into wood and my mouth doesn't obey me anymore! All I come up with is some unintelligent blabber! If I'm lucky! What should I do?"

He was already feeling weaker, his chest hurting more and more with each passing day. Only three weeks left until his birthday… and the day he would die. _BECAUSE I'M SUCH A MORON! _

"And now she's gone!" Minion panicked. "What if she won't come back?"

"She's at Lena's…" the blue inventor said weakly. "She'll be here tomorrow…"

"Then we have to do something!"

"But what?!" Megamind looked at his friend. "There's nothing to do! I just… I… I'm so screwed." He sighed again. "What if she says no? What if… what if she laughs? Minion, what if she _laughs?!_" His eyes grew twice their size as he looked at his friend in panic.

"She won't, sir. Miss Ritchi would never laugh at you," Minion assured him, placing both hands on his shoulders. "Just _tell _her."

"Easier said than done."

~~00~~

The next day Wayne was sitting in his room staring at the photo in his hands. Shane, his friend, had cleared the image in a blink of an eye and now, the young heir to Scott fortune tried to figure out exactly what he was looking at and where he had seen it before.

It was some kind of an ape; gorilla, maybe… with a fishbowl as a head. Wayne rubbed his chin. It was ridiculous, but… he seemed to recognize the fish. From where…?

His cellphone brought him out from his thoughts.

"Wayne Scott," he answered it, eyes still on the photo.

"_Hey, boss! You won't believe what I've found!" _Wayne rolled his eyes at how excited Hal sounded. His info was most of the time exaggerated and worth less that he was paying him.

"Can't it wait, I'm a bit…" He tried to get rid of the pest he was employing but was cut off, which startled him so much he looked at the phone with raised eyebrows.

"_But this time we got him! And you won't believe it! Roxanne lives with him!"_

"Oh, does she…?" Wayne tried to remain cool in voice, but he grimaced and his fist clenched.

"_Yeah, yeah, but it's an abandoned theatre in the industrial area! And he has this weird fish in robotic suit, which talks and he calls it Minion!"_

The young businessman's brows furrowed. Fish named Minion… He darted up from his seat and made his way to the living room.

"Have you seen him?" he asked, his heart hammering in his chest.

"_Nah. These weird, robotic, flying things chased me away. Have torn up jeans to prove it. Those things are lethal! Wonder if I could sue him…" _Wayne heard Hal shift in his seat, probably to check the hole in his trousers.

"Yes, yes. That's everything. Do you have anything else?"

"Well…" The cameraman thought for a moment, "_No…"_ he finally said.

"Good, see you later."

Wayne hung up just as Hal began to say, "_Hey, when's my pay-"_

He reached the living room. _There, on the highest shelf_. He found the chair and climbed up, reaching for the old family album. The photo was at the very back; he had to pull it out from behind the cover, and…

"Blast it to HELL!" He threw the album across the room. Part of the photo was cut off; the most important part!

Wayne squeezed his temple. He very vaguely remembered. A kid, small, scrawny, wore an orange jumpsuit… something wrong was with his head and skin…always trying to steal the attention from him…if he could just remember his name…

_I'll just have to talk with Roxanne_.

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><p>Sorry for the shortness.<p>

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